We have a winner!

You may remember that two years ago, Z competed in a karate tournament. She completely froze up and didn't place, but I was very proud that she kept her composure until we were in the car. 

Last year, she signed up for the karate tournament her own dojo was putting on. I was sure she'd do well. She had practiced, had home court advantage... So I was sitting in the audience watching the Taiko drummers when I decided to go check on her. It happened that she was running towards me down the hallway, vomiting and crying. We had to go home, of course. 

This year she signed up for the tournament in two events, katas (a series of practiced movements) and sparring. I thought her kata was really good, and when I saw there were only seven participants, I really thought she might place. I stayed somewhat far away so I couldn't catch her eye and accidentally distract her. And I heard her begin her introductions... then freeze again. I couldn't tell whether she was prompted or remembered, but she did get started again, then did Tiger Roll Kata (which she did well), and sat down. Her scores were not high, but not awful either. She didn't place, but she did get through it all admirably. 

Then came sparring, which was on the other side of the auditorium from where I'd been watching. I moved so I could see better. There were only six kids, and I knew two of them well, and both of them regularly beat her in class. She had her first match, against one of the girls I didn't know. The girl was taller than Z, and they were well matched, but Zadie won 5-3.

A girl in her class then sparred and won her match, and then a boy in her class sparred and won his match. So far, her dojo was doing really well. 

Z then was paired up with the girl from her class. I thought, "Well, this was a nice run, and she should be proud of her performance today, but she's about to get her ass handed to her, so this is the end of the line." But then it wasn't. She got in several good kicks and a few good punches. The match was a nail-biter. When one of the judges thinks they see a point, they briefly stop the match and all three judges say whether they believe one of the contestants should be awarded a point. Well several times, either the judges didn't all see, or they disagreed, so it was kind of a long match. Z was behind for a while in the beginning, but when time was called, she was ahead, so she had won her second match, too!

Then the other girl had to fight again. It was her third match, and I'm not that great at figuring out how to tell who's in what place. She won her third match, and if you are good at this sort of thing, you have figured out by now that this means she's just won third place, and the two people vying for first will now spar. 

And they do. And it's my kid against the boy from her dojo. And he's really good. He wins most of his matches in the dojo. He's aggressive, and he puts other kids on the defense or on the run. He's also really focused. Z, on the other hand, tends to lose focus and end up on the run. But not this time. This match was a nail-biter, too. It was one point for him, one for her almost throughout. There were a ton of times when the judges didn't see or couldn't agree. And then he kicked her and she fell down on her tailbone. And one thing she is not, man, is resilient. I could see she was going to cry, and so I hiked the baby up onto my hip, leaned forward to wait for the judge's word that I could go get her, and ... kept waiting, because he talked her down. And in a minute or so, she was ready to go on. And she put her all into it, and she earned those last couple points, and there it was! She was the first place winner! Oh, you should have seen her face. She knew she shouldn't celebrate unduly so that she wouldn't make the other kid sad, but she couldn't help but grin. 

And I am glad, because sometimes things are so hard for her. Sometimes she gets yelled at by us. Sometimes the other kids at school don't get her. Sometimes her very patient, understanding teacher has to pull me aside to tell me what went wrong that day, and last week that was nearly every day. She just needed a win, I think. And she earned one.